Nigerian author Akaniyene Akpan Samuel, whose debut book, Another Kind Of Boy, a book/novel about homosexuality and the love of God, had a conversation with our correspondent Kathryn Gabriel.

A Conversation with Akaniyene Akpan Samuel

Poemify Publishers 

Welcome to Poemify Publishers, where we explore the various forms of African art, from traditional sculpture and paintings to contemporary digital art and installations, including the business of writing and publishing. Mr. Akaniyene, kindly introduce yourself.

Akaniyene Akpan Samuel

So, my name is Akaniyene Akpan Samuel. I am from Akwa Ibom State. I grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, and then I had to relocate to Akwa-Ibom because of schooling. Speaking of schooling, I am a student of Banking and finance at the University of Uyo Akwa Ibom, and then I’m a writer, author of “Another Kind of Boy.” I’m also a writing coach. I host content mastery; we’ve had our second edition already, and I groom students into all forms of content, written and spoken, and they will learn things like copywriting, content writing, podcasting, and all of that. It is held quarterly every year. We’ve had two this year already. I’m a freelance writer, a content writer, a social media manager, and a creative. That just summarises it: I think I’m creative and a very core Christian.

Poemify

It’s nice to meet you. How do you manage writing and your field of study? And for how long have you been writing?

Akaniyene Akpan Samuel

Let me take the second question first: “How long have I been writing?” I think I started writing when I was a child. When I was very young, I think I was about 10 or 11. I used to write stories for my siblings and my mom. I would write them inside 20 leaf notes, and I would write those short stories, give them to my  mom and siblings to read, and they would enjoy them. I’ll wrap old almanacks, then wrap them, and then give them to my siblings. I will draw the cover page for the book and write my name there. I had this imaginary writing company, A1 Books. I used to put their logo at the top right of every book I wrote for my siblings, and they would read it. So that was when I discovered that I had the ability to tell stories, and I love storytelling. I have loved to write since I was very young. So how do I manage writing and my field of study because I’m studying something that is quite opposite from literature? So what I do is that I try as much as possible to write every day, and then  I write and I store. Most times, I don’t write everything, and I don’t post everything I write. I write, store them, and keep writing, and my field of study also helps me because I love to explore different areas, so my future study also helps me to do better. How I manage both of them is that I try as much as possible to write in my free time, and I try to give myself the target of always writing every day, even if it is just a word or just a letter. Especially when I was writing my book,  “Another Kind of Boy,” I had to make sure that every day I was writing something, that I was adding something to  the book, even if it was just a word, even if it was just a sentence, even if it was just a paragraph, I would add something to it. I tried as much as possible to write every day because studying and writing are not easy and could lead to writer’s block many times. But when you try to develop the habit of writing every day, it cures the writer’s block and helps you do better.

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Poemify

Bring us back to the start. Where did the inspiration for your book come from?

Akaniyene Akpan Samuel

About my book, “Another Kind of Boy,” when I started writing it, I didn’t write it because I wanted it to be a book. Now, during the lockdown in 2020, I was in the village with my family, my aunt, and her children, and it was very boring because I was staying in the village and I didn’t have a phone, so I just thought of ways to get busy with myself, and then I picked up my book and I started writing the story for myself because my siblings were not around for me to show it to them as I always do. So I was writing this story for myself. Chapter after chapter, every day I wake up and add a  chapter to the last chapter, and I am enjoying it. It was more like I was seeing a movie, but this time, the movie is in black and white, and it’s staring right in front of me, so I was always writing, and then I finally got a phone, and then I had to start writing the book, and then it occurred to me that this was already a mature book for release, and then in 2020, on my birthday, I sent out half the book for free.

I put it up on my friend’s blog, and then I set out the book for free, and then my friend told me that in like 3 weeks, He already had almost 1,000 downloads, and I was like, “1000 downloads? That’s a lot of downloads” and all of the book, and then the book basically is centred around a Pastor’s child who is homosexual, who is struggling with homosexualism, or who has homosexual tendencies, and his father is a major pastor, and then the whole situation around being a Pastor’s child and having something as controversial as being homosexual, and then we talked about all that.

So it’s more like it’s Christian fiction, but it’s all about homosexualism, and it covers both males and females; it covers all  forms of sexual sins that pertain to the church and Christianity. So it’s not just for people who are struggling with homosexualism; it’s for people who are struggling with all forms of sexual sins and any sin entirely, and it is a beautiful story that covers the African culture, the Nigerian culture, and the Christian community, because many times some things in the Christian community are not always talked about, and so it covers this aspect of Christians who are going through things like this.

So, it answers the question: Are there people who are going through this in the church, and are there people who are trying to come out, and what’s the way out? So it answers these questions.

Poemify

Bring us back to the start. Where did the inspiration for your book come from?

Akaniyene Akpan Samuel

Alright, if you ask me where the inspiration for my story came from, I’ll tell you I was inspired by boredom first, because I was actually very bored, but for every writer, we all know that for every piece of fiction you write, there is an element of truth in it, and something that must have happened to you inspired what you wrote. So it’s the same for me because you would always write within your line of thought. You’d always write within the circumstances surrounding you and your environment, so yes.

One of the things that inspired the book were my friends. I have friends who were struggling with homosexuality, and then they were struggling with things like this. Most of them had bitter experiences; I captured some of them inside the book, and some of them had very rough experiences.

I also had my own share of rough experiences,  and we are all in church. I’m a church boy, so the church part of my environment and the situation surrounding my life are found in church. So, yes, inspired by the church, inspired by boredom, inspired by experiences and encounters my friends have had over the years

Poemify

From what you’ve said so far, I’m sure your family is your biggest fan, lovely! Going through your page, I noticed you also sing.

Akaniyene Akpan Samuel

Yes, I actually sing. Okay, actually, I used to feel like writing was the minor and singing was the major because I sing in church, I’m in the choir, and I minister.

I also have two songs recorded in the studio that I have not released yet. I do covers of songs sometimes. 

So yes, I do sing, I have that part of me that sings but I think it’s not yet time for me to show that off, I’m still in the season where people call me a writer but I’m going to be introducing my singing very soon to the general public and I believe that everybody is going to have to accept me, accept my new version but writing still stays

Poemify

We anticipate the release of your songs and that new version. Judging by your writing, you’re very creative. Which writer and musician would you choose to eat dinner with if you could only choose one from the continent? Or, we could call it a dinner party and invite one of each.

Akaniyene Akpan Samuel

Let’s start with singers. If I were going to sit down with any singer to have dinner, it would be Dunsin Oyekan. I would really, really adore that day. I will look at the day as the best day of my entire life, honestly, and then for a writer, if there’s one writer that I know that I really want to sit down and have dinner with, it would be Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, because she writes, she does storytelling in a very simple manner, and then she does it beautifully, and I like the African texture her writing has, so yes, I like to have dinner with her, and I like to have dinner with Dunsin Oyekan.

Poemify

Oh, cool. Really cool. How would you describe your writing process? Have your expectations of the journey been met? Has there been anything unexpected along the way?

Akaniyene Akpan Samuel

Okay, I’ll say my writing process is going pretty well for the state that I’m in now, being that I’m merging it with school. I believe I’ll do much more if I’m out of school because I’ll have time to put in more work because writing is a lot of work and takes a lot of effort, so my writing process is actually going well. My expectations are being met based on my level. 

I cannot expect too much from the level I have, the level of training, the level of resources, the level of preparedness, and the environment I am in currently. I can say I’m meeting up to my expectations, actually, because I could do much more; there is room for much more, but like I said,  the resources sometimes could be lacking, and for the level I am at, I think I’m doing my very best. 

Anything unexpected along the way, okay for example, I was supposed to release my second book this year and I’ve met a lot of setbacks, a whole lot of setbacks that I really do not want to share here but I have a lot of setbacks, so many unexpected things along the way, honestly, but not too many compared to meeting my expectations

Poemify

Lastly, what words of advice would you offer to talented writers like yourself who are going through a dry spell?

Akaniyene Akpan Samuel

One of the things I will advise current writers is to do a lot of reading. It helps you with your dry state, and when you read, don’t just read haphazardly. As a writer, you don’t read carelessly; you read with intentions and motives. When you see a new word, you don’t just keep it and try to understand it using the words that follow or the words that came before; you sit down and then check the meaning of the word and the usage of the word. All this expands your vocabulary, and then when you want to write about something, for example, about money, finances, or health, read books related to your area. Now, it helps you because you already have an idea of what you want to write, but the experiences of these authors will help fuel the writer in you, and then you’ll be able to write more when you read more. I think if you want to write a book, give  yourself a period of like three or four months and use it to break down books per month or per week, depending on your ability and your strength. Break down these books, and then read, read, and start writing. That’s basically one of the pieces of advice I’d give.

Another piece of advice is that when you want to write, write about something you have adequate knowledge about. Don’t just write about anything because you feel like you should.

If you’re doing story writing and You want the setting of your writing, the setting of your novel or play, whatever you’re writing, or a poem, let it be a place where you have probably lived or have had experiences about that. Don’t just write about California If you have not lived in California, do not write about Kaduna if you have not lived in Kaduna. Write about a place that you are very familiar with.

It’s the same thing with writing in general: write about a subject matter that you are well versed in, something that you can write effortlessly—maybe not effortlessly; nothing Is done effortlessly—something you can write efficiently and effectively within a certain time. 

Also, I would like to  say that you should seek counsel from people who have gone before you. When they say stepping into the unknown, the unknown can become known because for that place You call it unknown; someone else knows it; someone else has passed through that part, and it’s easier when you quit trying to learn from your experiences and try to learn from other people’s experiences. Try to get help from other people.

Pick a mentor, somebody whom you admire, and read their work. It might be somebody who is close and somebody who is afraid. I’d prefer you have somebody who is within your reach and somebody who is outside your reach. For the person outside your reach, just find their materials, follow them on YouTube and their social media handles, and see what they do. For somebody who is within your reach, you could always ask the person questions for guidance and all of that.

And lastly, I think you should have a team. Build a team of people who are your people and who are doing what you’re doing now. That’s because when you are in the midst of these people, your writing ability is stirred up.

Every singer has a group of singers he has as friends; every writer should also have a group of writers and have a connection with writers. People who are doing what you’re doing are maybe not necessarily writing the kind of things you’re writing, but at least they’re doing what you’re doing. Their next move fuels or fosters your next move, and that’s basically my two cents for everyone who wants to be a writer. Thank you so much for asking me this, and I’m giving you my two cents. I believe there’s more, but this is all I can give for now.

Buy Another Kind of Boy by Akaniyene Akpan Samuel: Selar